as we know it, the shots were first reported around 9:52 that would be eastern time. one witness described hearing a loud bang and saw a man holding a large gun. possibly a rifle. many bystanders started ducking and running. others stopped to administrate cpr to the officer and one point we could see other law enforcement people surrounding what we believe to be the officer who was injured at that scene. this is an ongoing breaking news story at this point. ottawa's mayor jim watson tweeted out the following statement on his verified twitter account. i'm saying as with all ottawa residents and canadians i'm shocked and saddened by what happened in the last hour here in the nation's capital. our thoughts and priors are with those injured. at this point, a former cbc producer who was close to the scene indicated that she passed

the war memorial and heard a bang. the individual turned around and saw a man holding up a large gun maybe a rifle. there was a commotion. people started ducking and running. that producer for cbc said that they ran back and there were people surrounding the soldier administrating cpr. he was one of the normal guards around the war memorial. the police were called. the scene still unfolding. ctv is reporting the person believed to be the shooter is still out. we received conflicting information on that part of the story. but right now we're trying to get more details. this is breaking news. at least two people shot on parliament hill in ottawa. officials confirm that the shots were fired striking a uniform officer or soldier at that scene. armed police have surrounded the parliament and escorted

lawmakers to safety. police, again, say the man who was shot is believed to be a canadian forces individual. we will continue to follow this breaking news right now. as you can imagine, a number of concerns at this point. a number of theories of what happened here. nothing is confirmed. what we know there's a lock down situation in ottawa. we're working to get more news as soon as we possibly can. right now we're getting more information from a verified account from officials within ottawa advising those who are in the downtown area and downtown ottawa to stay away from windows and off roofs due to the ongoing police incidents. so this information -- the royal mountain canadian police have advised people to stay in a lock down mode. i want to go to a reporter open

the ground near parliament in ottawa. this is a live report, as it is being reported in canada. let's listen in. >> typically there is someone who is there on duty every day throughout these months up until november 11th. and it was one of those soldier, we believe, that was shot in full uniform. he went down after that shot was fired. witnesses say they then heard two more shots and saw the suspect running toward parliament hill. they described him as wearing all black and carrying some sort of large gun. that's when police were called. paramedics arrived here at the war memorial. they started performing cpr on the soldier, he was taken away in an balanambulance. we're awaiting a official update on his condition at this time. he appeared to be a young man in full uniform at the national war memorial. i'm joined by liberal mp. you were inside when it

happened. >> literally i was taking off my jacket and going to congress. i hear the pop, pop, pop. possibly ten shots. i thought it was dynamite or construction rash anything else. suddenly there's security guards rushing us down the hallway, ushering to the back of the parliament building. we were talking and one of the construction people said to us, well, probably a better idea to stand behind the monuments so if someone inside shooting out then they have a bit better chance. we talked to a another woman and she was apparently inside the library of parliament saw the fellow wearing a hoodie. carrying a gun, and then the implications of this started to sink in. in order to be able to in that position, you have to walk down the hall of honor. the hall of honor, on the one side, is the caucus, and the other side is the conservative caucus. how somebody gets a rifle walking down the hall of honor

staying in the library of parliament will be an interesting piece of investigation. and then after that we got ushered off the hill and then we find out about the soldier and this is kind of a day that changes everything. >> there was a sense of urge si inside parliament hill. did people understand what was going on? or it was more unbelievable? >> sort of suspended. your doing what you're what you're told to. you're not emotionally reacting. i didn't start to emotionally react until i was on ellington street. it's bizarre. something we've never experienced before. people were relatively calm. there was no sense of panic. there was one woman who was crying. >> now is there any sort of communication between, you know, your member of the liberal party or is everyone checking in to make sure everyone is accounted for. what is happening behind the

scenes? you like to check in but the lines so jammed. it's hard get through. i talked to my staff. they were in my office in the justice building. hasn't been evacuated yet. we're accounted for as far as my staff. >> we're hold some mp were told to hide to go to a lockdown mode. have you heard anything? >> i haven't. i can't be surprised. especially if they haven't accounted for the people with the gun. the gun or guns. i don't know if there's one, two, more than one. i just don't know. >> you said this is a day that changes everything. can you speak to that and you said you didn't really start to feel emotion until you came outside and recognized it. can you describe as a member of parliament how you're feeling now? >> well, this -- parliament is the deacon's house. it's the house of our democracy. and access is kind of fundame fundament fundamental. people have to be able to feel

free to access their seat of democracy and the people that represent them, and i don't really want to think about it but i'm going to be forced to think about the implications of heightened security. all of the stuff we'll do in the security and the way in which it we'll impact our dialogue on how we live in this country. and i just am a little nervous about where that conversation might go. because you can fall into some pretty major traps. >> thank you. i'm going to send it back inside to you, kevin. as we were listening in to ctv a member of parliament being interviewed. let me go to pete williams on the phone. we also have former cia counter terrorism analyst there. pete, let's start with you. you heard in the interview this area where this individual was

able to get in and fire off shots. it's the hall of honor. as described in the live interview. that's considered a pretty secure area of parliament. and that lawmaker wondering how the person was able to get to the area >>well, it's still not clear whether the incident is over. it started about an hour ago. and the police up there. the royal canadian police have urged people in ottawa in that area to stay away from windows and off the roofs of buildings. because it's quite clear they're trying to see if there is a second gunman. the early reports were that the person who fired the shots that were initially reported has been killed. but now authorities are looking to see if there's a second gunman. so it started at the war memorial, which is just a few minutes walk away from the canadian parliament building in ottawa, the capitol. a man with a gunshot a soldier at the war memorial and headed to the canadian parliament, which is now in session. the officials say the gunman was

pursued and the early reports were that that gunman, who entered the parliament building is today. we don't know the condition of the wounded soldier who was taken away by ambulance, of course. it comes a couple of days ago after a man who was described as an islamic convert ran down two canadian soldiers near montreal with a car. one of the persons was killed and the driver was shot and killed by police. for the past several days, canadian authorities have been on high alert. concerned about the prospect for just this kind of isis-inspired gun and what you might call low tech violence. this is still unfolding. we can't say it's over yet. we don't know precisely how many people were wounded in this attack that may not yet be over in ottawa in the capitol, their version of washington, d.c. >> to your point, the incident that happened earlier this week where one soldier was killed and another injured. this comes on the heels, pete,

of the report that came out on october 8th that members of isis. it was described as being aspirational but in the works of planning knife and gun attacks against u.s. and canadian targets inside canada. we don't know if these events are connected, but these are reports of stories that have been in the news the past couple of weeks. let me now bring in a counter terrorism analyst there. thank you for joining us. are you there? >> yes, i am. >> as pete pointed out. it's an ongoing situation. we don't know if the shooter has been apprehended or killed, but what we know earlier this week, you had an incident where there was a hit and run car crash. one soldier was killed another injured. what was described as a terrorist attack by canadian politicians and police. >> that's correct. one of the things since we don't know who the shooter or shooters are currently in ottawa are, i

would just suggest that it's an abundance of caution i wouldn't sort of decide to say it's definitely an isis-like attack. but one thing to notice is that isis and these organization have called for the low level attack. the sort of things that create sort of low level mayhem within a society, and like said, again, this is not -- nothing has been confirmed but this is certainly a possibility, according to the playbook. >> with that said, nothing is confirmed. as pete reported. we know there was a heightened sense of security, as there always is at parliament as it is the case with capitol hill. and given the situation of events playing out in the middle east and in that region we certainly know that security is important and at the highest --

at a high alert. with that said, we heard the interview with the member of parliament indicated the area where the gunman was spotted, the hall of honor is a secure place and his first question with the reporter was that he wants answered was how the individual was able to get in the area. >> yeah. that's a very difficult situation for the canadian law enforcement and security services. they're going to have to answer for this. presumably there's going to be a lot of parliament inquiries into the attack. no matter -- whether it's a lone gunman, whether it's another political organization, or it's a terrorist attack. terrorism is really political theater. the idea is oftentimes not create death and mayhem and so forth. the fact to get to the media. obviously this is dominating in canada and the united states right now. if it was indeed sort of a politically motivated attack, then they certainly are achieving their goals.

>> with this incident on tuesday with the hit and run car crash, as mentioned authorities there said the individual was a canadian turned to radical islam. the attack ended with the police fatally shooting the individual who w said he become radicalized last year. at this point, these are not connect the but talk to us a little bit even about the climate both in canada and the united states as there was a report just yesterday. a developing story that pete williams has been covering of some young girls in the states who were planning to fly off to syria to aid isis. >> yes. sure. one must remember the north america continent of united states and canada there are about 5 to 8 muslims we're talking about an incredibly

small number of people here. the idea the united states has some people say 12 some people say up to 100 people fighting in syria or syria conflict. out of 100 people or 12 people out of the country of 310 million people, that's an a small number of people. yet there are people who are looking for some sort of identity than find their calling through this radical militant radical islam. and so, for example, the person who was involved in the hit and run. if you're really a hard core terrorist, you would think there's a lot better ways to get into the news and kill people than just sort of vehicular homicide. we're not talking about the sharpest tools in the tool shed right now. >> pete, are you tistill there? pete had to leave. we know as well -- again we can't stress enough at this point. we don't know the identity or the motive of this individual shooting, but that this is

perhaps someone in uniform at this scene and a person individual who was injured and instantly made me think of what we saw play out in the u.k. where a soldier was brutally attacked in broad daylight in the u.k. last year. >> yes. and if this is the case both in the incident in quebec and the incident in the united kingdom from last year, it would show there are individuals who have violent tendencies, who are willing to create this fear and terrible violence. you had an attack in industrial why were they were going to behead a random person. but you have to remember these are lone -- i don't want to say lone wolves but these are just individuals who are carrying out violent attacks. it is not actually a systemic terrorist campaign. i think that's something that the viewers should think about.

these are individuals and not sort of a thing carried out by isis and al qaeda or other organization. >> let me give our audience updated information. we've gotten into msnbc. right now we understand the gunman is believed to have entered parliament, which is in session, as we know members of parliament was escorted out for their safety. he was shot and possibly killed by security forces according to officials. a man believed to be the gunman was seen being removed from the building on a gurney. a canadian television is reporting near the military or emergency services would comment on the shooting or the condition those shot. at this point, the gunman opened fire on a uniformed soldier wounding him in the shooting that took place near canada's national war memorial. that is a short distance from parliament. the gunman is believed to have entered parliament, which is in

session, where she whe was shot possibly killed by security forces. a man seemed to be a gunman was seen being removed from the building on a gurnfully. it comes two days after a suspected isis inspired individual ran down two soldiers in montreal. one of whom subsequently died from the effects of the accident. let me go to leeann goodman. are you there, leeann? >> yes, i am. what can you tell us, at least first, regarding the status of the shooter. is it an ongoing active shooting nvgts or is the person in custody? >> we're getting so little information. we know there's one shooter. one might have been brought down reportedly by the parliament sergeant and arms. there may be another one out there. everything is locked down. there's reports of a speeding motorcycle on the 417, a big highway leading out of ottawa. so we're not all sure there's more than one shooter at this

point in the entire city is in lock down. we're not able to get at the building. some of our reporters at parliament hill are not able to leave. >> what can you tell me witnesses are reporting saw and heard? >> the war memorial. an interesting thing about ottawa. it's small. i worked in washington for years and i found ottawa so small. everything is within a stone's throw of everything else. the war memorial is two minutes away from the building and the national press building and a hotel. somebody was shot there, apparently one of the ceremonyial guards, one of the guys who is a ceremonial guard. a guy in a kilt is down. they are -- they performed cpr on him. we don't know what the state of his health is at this stage. then the shooter ran across the street literally to parliament

hill and shot as many as 40 shots were fired in the hall of the parliament. now we're hearing reports there may be another shooter. we've heard reports that the bbu -- one may have been brought down by the parliament sergeant and arms. i think they're not sure whether they have more than one shooter or several shooters. >> describe to us the security of what is in place. we heard a member of parliament on a live television interview instantly question how this individual was able to get into the hall of honors to even fire off the rifle that he was carrying. >> you know security concerns have been a growing complaint among mps. i know, the leader of the opposition just as recently as last night was complaining that security was so lax. it would -- certainly when you go to parliament hill you have to have a pass and you get brought in. it struck me a few times it

would be pretty easy to bully yourself right through the various guards. you could easily sort of sneak in. i'm used to white house security where you go through scanners and everything else. that is the case on parliament hill. and there have been some complaints about it. >> that's interesting. paint the picture for people who have not been to parliament hill to understand the comparisons that you've had the advantage point of both being able to experience both. what we experience in washington, d.c., and capitol hill versus what is experienced there. >> i can tell you the security was far more extreme in washington than it is here. was very noticeable when i came back to ottawa from washington. you can't get in very far in washington without going through body scanners at some point or having your bags scanned. that isn't always the case here. sometimes it is.

certain buildings it is. walking over to parliament hill you can get a visitors pass and away yo go. it's pretty easy to get in without much security measures. >> and regarding some of the complaints and concerns as of late that you were discussing was there a conversation or a debate about whether there should be metal detectors? what changes were being discussed, if any, specifics? >> not that i'm aware of at the moment. you can bet there will be now. canada has pretty tight gun control laws. how are the guys getting double barrel rifles and where they are getting the gun. there's an ongoing debate about the attempt to loosen gun control laws. it will become part of the conversation i would imagine in the days following this. >> leeann goodman with the

canadian press. >> let me go back to my colleague pete williams. indian y indi i understand you have new information. >> it's not unusual to figure out whether there was one person or two persons with a gun. the reports we had were that about 9:52 a man with a gunfired at a soldier who was on guard at the war memorial, which is just a few minutes walk away from parliament hill from the canadian parliament building in ottawa, the app call of ottawa. their version of washington, d.c. after that shooting, that same person walked a short distance or ran a short distance and enter the parliament building. it's unclear what kind of security was in place at the parliament building. the person got inside. shots were exchanged with that person, and the information we had from canadian authorities

was that the gunman was wounded. and the gunman was shot either killed or wounded and seen taken away on a gurney. there have been other reports of gunfire outside the canadian parliament building. and police were warning people to stay away and stay away from open windows. there may or may not have been a second gunman. it's not unusual as you get phone calls from all sorts of different places. people reporting what they hear. there are reports there's more than one gunman when it turns out to be just a single one. but no one has yet told us anything about the gunman where he's from, whether he was inspired by islamic terrorism. whether it was a mentally deranged person or what. we don't know. the second thing, we're not certain what the security procedures were at the canadian

parliament building. but remember the situation we had here in the u.s. capitol when the man named russell westton barged past metal detectives and able fire some shots. that lead to a huge change in security at the u.s. capitol with a visitors now having to enter through an underground visitor center before they get into the capitol rotunda or anywhere near it. that's one thing we'll have to wait until we see more about. >> according, pete, according to the reporter we just had on with us from the canadian press there was just a debate yesterday or concerns expressed yesterday that the security entering was too lax. there are, not according to the information we received metal detectors. not nearly the tight security as

washington, d.c. the issue of security was brought up yesterday. it would be too easy for someone to enter. just a little over a week ago, canadian authorities were talking about increasing security at the parliament building and other public buildings in canada, because with a we were told is they picked up a lot more talk. chatter about trying to carry out just these kind of what one might call low tech but violent attacks using guns or knives or in the case of two days ago the car to threaten or carry out attacks against people in the canadian government. the canadian authorities told us they have about 90 people under surveillance. people who tried to go to syria and had been stopped or had gone and had come back.

and they were growing concerns about this. just to step back from this little further -- >> we have a constable with the ottawa police on the line with us. constab constable, thank you for joining us. is the shooter in custody now? >> i -- one of the shooters because we're working with numerous suspects right now i can't confirm the actual arrest. what we're dealing with now is with different scenes. we had suspects that did go in different directions. confirmed that the shots were fired at 9:52 this morning and there is one male that is a victim of these shootings. he was transported. i don't have a status on his condition right now. we're still working with that. we're working closely with the military and ottawa police, with all the intelligence and the information that is gathered from the scene from this morning. >> at this point, you are -- and

believe there's more than one individual you're looking for at this point? that authorities are looking for? >> yes, that's confirmed. >> what did witnesses report around 9:52 that we first got the reports of shots being fired there this. >> just shots were fired at the monument. that this monument is actual -- there's members that are there at all times. there's confirmed that there was a victim from the shots. we're still dealing with the witnesses. it is a bad scene for people involved in this and have seen the outlay of this kind of violence. so we're still working with this information from the witnesses on scene. >> the individual who was fired on, the reports are it was a uniformed soldier. is that the case? >> i won't, in with respect to the family and their workplace right now, i won't confirm in with respect to that until we

get more details of his condition at the hospital. the only thing i'm able to confirm he was transported to the hospital. and the shots were fired in his direction. >> according to the reports what can you confirm regarding the suspects. did they attempt to enter parliament from one entrance? it was a coordinated attack that came from several district directions? what can you tell us regarding the way in which they attempted to carry this out? >> from the information gathered at this point, the scene started at the war memorial a scene in the downtown core of ottawa. this is a monument close to parliament. you're looking at approximately a kilometer away or half a kilometer away. we have the numerous suspects that were dealing with being on foot from the shots fired and running in different directions.

we're still dealing with the information now. we have officers in all units available have shown up on the scene. we have shut down the entire area and put a lot of builds on lock downs. >> do you believe there rupts is in the buildings poernly that are under lock down. >> can you repeat that? >> do you believe there are suspects inside the buildings that are under this lock down? >> we are working with that information right now. so i won't be able to confirm it. but this is one part of the intelligence that we're working with the ottawa police that are on the scene now. >> since the information you provided that some of these individuals were able to run from that scene i would imagine now that this search has extended far beyond what we're watching play out on live tv which is parliament in a lot of tv. in fact we see at least one officer run. he has a high powered rifle in

his hand. how far are you extending this search at this point for these individuals? >> i don't have the information to accurately give you as confirmed. at this time i'll keep it downtown. and i don't have the details to confirm. >> and constable, i know this is a fluid situation, but how many individuals do you believe you're looking for at this time? can you give us the best guess? one confirmed but there are multiple suspects a the scene during the first incident. so we are dealing with more than one. i won't confirm how many. it is rumor there had are multiple. >> constable, we know that earlier in the week there was a hit and run car crash, one soldier was killed in that attack. authorities -- canadian politicians and police as well as military commanders all suggesting that the individual

responsible was a canadian turned to radical islam. i know, this is an ongoing situation investigation as well. do we know anything about these suspects that you're able to report regarding motive? >> no, i won't have any details until the investigation is confirmed on intelligence. so i won't be able to confirm that, no. >> constable, thank you so much for joinings us. i have on the line freelance journalist justin link justin is barricaded inside the parliament cafeteria. are you there? >> yes. >> you are inside the cafeteria. what can you tell me. are there others there? how many? >> there's two dozen of right now. this morning was very frantic. we kind of ran in here a handful of us were in here already. i was making my way down to my office which is located pretty much near the hallway where the shooter was taken down. what we've been told he was

taken down. i had a member of parliament run up and say there's an active shooter. get inside. he kept running evidently to tell others. we came back here and barricaded ourselves and huddled in the back of the room. so, you know, we're not sure if she's -- we're not sure if there are any active shooters in the building. i believe there is not. there's a frantic energy here. we're a little more relaxed. nothing has been awhiled. we are waiting for police officers to complete the sweep of the building. >> how close were you to the shots that were fired? >> at one point while we were barricading ourselves in here we heard shots in a hallway not far from where we were hiding. we're not -- and we're not especially close but the

buildings are long and entintrid there's a lot of hallways. it's difficult to do a full sweep of the building. if he's still here, there's no telling where he could be. >> we're getting video from parliament. can you describe the security that people face when they're walking into the building. >> it's mediocre. there is a metal detecter. there are light screenings but much less when you get into the airport. there are armed guards in the building and they evidently reacted. >> justin, please. standby. we need to listen to information and video coming in. we hope that everyone is safe. let's listen in. >> you were able to catch. i don't know if it was explosive or a powerful weapon was quite profound. were you able, at all, i'm not asking to get any closer to this. were you able, at all, to get your eyes on the gunman?

>> i did not see the gunman moving. i saw a body that, you know, certainly police looked -- >> that is video from earlier. just after gunshots were fired. if we can bring that back up. we can provide more information. this is video from ctv of what we believe was the initial exchange of fire between the gunman and security forces. let's listen in to the video. let me stress from earlier today about an hour or so ago. >> swarmed the area. >> the audio, obviously, is not very clear. it gives you a glimpse at least some of what was happening inside parliament. we believe the officers confronted at least one suspect

as we just heard from the ottawa police spokesperson. they are, at this hour, looking for more than one individual a specific number was not given. this is an ongoing breaking news story. let me go back to justin lingca. >> is there an intercom system or something in place where you and others who are now under lock down where you're getting information from authorities? >> no. >> nothing? >> we're getting periodical calls or the landline in here. we're getting periodical calls. not much information. twitter has been, i think, probably the main source of information thus far. there have been some e-mails from the security services. so we do get a little bit of updates here but not very much. it's still very terse in here. we don't know what is going on. so, you know, we're working on a very light amount of information so far. >> given incident that happened earlier in the week where one

soldier was killed of someone become radicalize. the event on tuesday. was the security tight around around parliament. did you see a change from the beginning of the week to after this event happened on tuesday? >>, i mean, it seems to be clear right now that the events for monday -- i think we are all operating on the assumption. there was reports unconfirmed reports that one of the gunman was wearing an arabic -- given the nature of the attack it seems to be obviously inspired by radical ideology. i think it's obviously whether or not they were coordinated with the attacks on monday was inspired by it. i know, for a fact the security intention agency had been monitoring up to 90 individuals they believed were radicalized and capable of carrying out attacks. they told us the man from monday

was one of those maybe. >> at this point, authorities have not confirmed that informati information. these individuals are linked to radicalized islam. that hasn't been confirmed. given the events that played out earlier in the week, that's one of the first questions to be asked regarding motive. at this time we haven't been able to confirm any of that information. >> we haven't but we've been told -- there was repeat ee eed warnings from isis and isis members over the past weeks that the attack on canada was imminent and they would be targeting a uniformed personnel and that would happen today. >> the reports you just mentioned from early october. at the time authorities described these threats as aspirational or being in the aspirational stage. but we know that nbc news and

canadian authorities had been discussing the potential that isis wanted to carry out knife and gun attacks against u.s. and canadian targets inside canada. that being reported at the beginning of october. but authorities at the time stressed that the possible attacks were at the aspirational stage. there were threats of a similar kind in australia as well. where we witnessed a huge sweep in a number of suspects taken into custody. we don't know if this incident we're watching play out in canada is connected to any of the reports from earlier in the month. we know that authorities had been searching and monitoring a number of people. what have you heard from your latest update, justin? >> what we know, you know, our security intelligence agency had been on the individuals. it's open question why they

haven't arrested them yet. i think in the coming you'll see that happen. we have indications from the government that the security intelligence agency doesn't have enough or our security agents don't have enough power to actually apprehend these people. we know there are laws in the books that allow them to arrest and anybody who try to fight. we know for a fact that the man on monday was in that category. he tried to go to syria and iraq to fight for isis. he was stopped at the border. his passport was taken. it's unclear why he wasn't arrested. i would be curious to see if the attackers from today fall in the same category. it's possible they do. if that's true, it raises some serious questions about the security operation. at the same time there's the obvious real they the attacks are almost impossible to predict or prevent. they're very, very low tech. the reports we have are of cars and possibly motorcycle dissenting on downtown and people jumping off and scatt

scatteri scattering. it's an overwhelmed thing. it's first responder system. >> to your point, the incident that happened earlier in the week. the hit and run. the suspect at that time had been, according to the superintendent in a news conference revealed the special anti-terrorism force had been monitoring him in june and arrested him a month later when he was about to fly to turkey. he was released for a lack of evidence that he intended to join a terrorist organization. that is the attack that was carried out earlier this week. where a canadian soldier was killed. this individual had been questioned. had been monitored but not arrested for a lack of evidence. i want to, again, show the video that came in a few minutes ago to msnbc of the exchange of fire. we believe this is the hall of honor where the exchange of fire between suspect and authorities took place. you can take a listen.

you can also hear the gunfire. take a listen. [ gunfire ] >> the first shots were fired around 9:52 eastern time at the national war memorial in parliament. the national war memorial stands in confederation square in the heart of downtown ottawa, which is at this hour, still under a lock down. you see heavily armed officers in and around that building live on the phone with me is canadian senator george baker who is locked down as well. senator, are you there? >> yes. >> what did you tell me you've been told at this point? z>> well, i'm looking through m window through a screen. we're not permitted to have the curtains open but i can see about 100 armed officers circling the buildings.

i do know that one of the offenders has been shot and is lying on the floor of the center block. there is a lot of activity because it's believed -- and there's some eye witnesses that said there was a second person dressed in the same regalia as the shooter. they're still circulating here with their automatic weapons drawn. the police forces -- the different forces. so i haven't seen anything like this in the 41 years i've been on parliament. >> senator, you're inside the lock down area. we saw video some of individuals escorted out of the building. where is your location that prevented you from being able to get out of building? >> i'm a senator so i'm across directly across. i'm looking straight at the center block where the shootings took place. the past shootings and i guess

where most of the activity is takes place. by the way, what i see from my window -- so i can see the east block and west block. directly across the street and observing this from my office window. you're near your office window. as we understand people have been advised by the royal cad began police to stay away from windows and away from roofs. are you there alone in that area? that office? >> yes. i'm in my office across the street watching this incredible action take place. >> and when you say incredible action, are you saying the show of force or do you believe that there are other suspects that you're able to see? tell me what you mean by that >>well, what i mean by that. i've never seen before, i've been here for 41 years, as an elected representative as and a senator. i've never seen this kind of activity of the different police forces here with their true teams and so on.

with their automatic weapons running. i'm looking at them now going across to another section of the center block with their weapons down and they're in a crouching position. so and i know from connections with my staff members who are in those other buildings, one of the staff members there is still going through the corridors. and there's been about 50 shots fired over the past half hour. about 50 shots. so that means this is still an active location. >> which we spoke with a constable with the ottawa police department who indicated they believe there are more suspects some of them were able to run and flee that scene. they are not -- they were not able to confirm if others may be in buildings under this lock down. let's talk about the security before today. were you and other members of parliament updated or told there

would be heightened security as a result of the incident that happened earlier in the week where a soldier was killed? and from reports earlier this month that members of isis wanted to target u.s. and canadian interestsed in canada? >> yes. in fact, we received a briefings. there were meetings that took place. you have to understand that parliament hill in canada is open to the public all the time. i mean, when you walk in through a door on parliament hill in canada, you do not see people with guns. the officers and security people you don't see them visibly. now once it's rather strange that on one section of our center block we have some ro roaming officers in plain clothing that carry weapons. there's about 20 of them. but in the other part, the senate part, there is nobody with any weapons at all. but you don't see any weapons.

so you've got half the center block, half of parliament hill with no weaponry whatsoever by the security staff. that's how open it is. so about a couple of months ago we held a meet iing discuss. it was a confidential meeting. i'll tell you public what the meeting was about. it was decided to bring in 20 persons on the doors who would have weapons. who would have guns. and the decision was made. it was to take effect in about three months from now. so i would imagine without disclosing any confidence here that matter is sure going to be changed in a hurry. >> and senator, back to the scene that is active in front of you. what are you able to see right now out that window? >> right now i see officers who

are looking at me. they're crouched behind their vehicles. they're looking up at my window and i'm not opening this screen very much because i'm not supposed to be opening it up. on further up, on the center block i see officers going with their sub machine guns and i see a small group going around the east side of the block with their sub machine guns out and pointed toward a roof position. and i see this is the rcmp plus the ottawa police force plus the security force on the hill. it's a very active situation that is taking place here today. we also have a workman out front who was coming in through the door who said earlier that there was more than one that were dressed in the same regalia. >> senate, when you say regalia. describe what they were wearing.

were they in camouflage? >> black clothing with a light bandanna around the face with some marx they would interpret as being associated with some islamic organization. >> did you -- were you ever able to see the suspects or is this what you have learned from aids and people around? >> no. this was from a worker who was actually working in a manhole on the street and who popped up his head as he observed the gunman who just shot the soldier at the war memorial. shot him in the chest. and then ran across the road and the fellow in the manhole popped up in the manhole and observed and looked the other way and saw a similar person dressed in the same regalia on the other side. of course, he went back down in the manhole. >> the individuals were believed to be wearing all bloack. as you are explaining with ab

white bandanna of some sort around their face. >> yes. >> you are a senator, to your point, you've been there for 40 plus years. how are you getting updated information? >> welwell, i'm not -- there's information being exchanged here. i'm getting information from one of my staff members who is locked down in the center block who saw the gunman run by and who is in the midst of the 30 to 40 shots initially and additional shots thereafter. so he's hidden away in an office. somehow all of the communications on parliament hill have been apparently shut down. you can't tweet or e-mail anymore. apparently it's a security measure where by things are just brought to a stand still until the crisis is over. there do you feel that authorities were prepared? you point out, for example, shut down of the ability to

communicate here given the threats that were made at the beginning of the month -- we don't know the motives of the individuals responsible for this but knowing there was a plot, l what could potentially be dangerous plot there. do you believe that security measures down to communication were properly put in place and this was taken seriously? >> well, there's going to have to be -- i'm the deputy chair of the legal committee of the senate. there's going to have to be some immediate answering of questions here. as you pointed out in your program a moment ago, it was only a short while ago that we learned that some 80 or 90 people were under surveillance by the rcmp. as being possible offenders, and they've been communicating with. under u.s. law, and under canadian law, we say that if

somebody has some reasonable grounds to suspect somebody's about to commit an indictable offense like this, that they would be taken into custody. there is authority under our criminal code as there is under your law to take them into custody. so that's the question that's going to be facing the rcmp, the royal canadian police in canada is why if you knew so much about these people if they were pre-trained and they were so -- of such a mind of thinking they wanted to destroy public buildings and kill people, why they weren't taken into custody. why, right now, don't they go out and take these people into some sort of investigative detention under our law so this matter doesn't happen again. >> but as you -- i know you know very well the royal canadian mountain police had been monitoring this individual responsible for the murder of

this soldier earlier in the week. he'd been under arrest back in june, but later, was released according to the information i have as reported in the "new york times" here. this individual identified as martin couture. back in june, he was monitored and arrested him a month later when he was about to fly to turkey but he was released for lack of evidence he intended to join a terrorist group. >> you're absolutely right. that's fine, you know, we can say, okay, american citizens, canadian citizens have certain rights under our domestic law. but in canada and the united states, we have the same terrorism act. we brought in after 9/11 special rules that allow the police to go further than they can go with ordinary citizens under our domestic law. so the general public are going to be asking the questions. why weren't -- why wasn't the

intent of that legislation followed through in these particular instances? why in canada and the united states do we have to put up with this kind of thing when we have supposedly laws on the books which have their intention to stop those activities from taking place that took place here today in ottawa. >> senator, in the quote from the article i have in front of me, the superintendent of the royal canadian mounted police and response to that says it is very difficult to know exactly what an individual is planning to do before a crime is committed. we cannot arrest someone for thinking radical thoughts. it is not a crime in canada. >> no, well, it's not. of course, it's not a crime in canada. neither is it a crime in the united states. but after 9/11, we both brought in legislation. and under that legislation, it gave great discretion to our police forces to give them the power on a suspicion on what is -- we call a reasonable

suspicion in american law and canadian law, and now the public are demanding, as they should, what is a reasonable suspicion. are you just going to watch these people? or are you actually going to detain them so that these incidents don't happen? that's the question. >> and we've gotten new information in. and since you've not been able to get updated information, i'm sure you are unaware. but ottawa police now tell ctv there were three separate sets of shots fired at the war memorial. one near parliament hill. so three sets of shots fired at three different locations. they will not say if these were the work of one man at this point. but the constable we spoke with just a short time ago indicated they were looking for more than one suspect. but three separate sets of shots fired at three locations. >> that will show you. you can't have three different

sets of shots fired at three locations by one man. it's obvious it was an organized effort on the part of these terrorists. and i would say that's probably the justification of shutting down an entire portion. so obviously this was a concerted effort on the part of terrorists here in canada and the general public will be asking, you know, they'll be saying, look. >> senator, please let me -- okay. we're watching live pictures right now of intense movements from heavily armed military and police personnel. they were focused from what we can see at either the top of the building, something across from them. >> yeah. >> caused them to move and now they've kind of retreated back some. but now -- >> that's right. >> they're escorting -- looks

like they were giving cover to an individual who was just placed inside an armored vehicle there. we could not see the identity of that person. but these police heavily armed police, many of them with face masks, as well. positioning so the individual was placed in a heavily armored vehicle, right now, that is leaving the scene. >> a lot of the attention, the automatic rifles are being pointed up to the top of that particular building, as well. so i was told a moment ago by an officer just before you called that the attention they've now turned to the tops of the building. >> right. >> apparently, there have been some potential shooters on the tops of the building. >> we should remind people as noted, parliament is in session. we do not know who that individual was. but for some reason, a number of personnel moved to that door. the armored vehicle moved to that door, as well, and an

individual was rushed inside. parliament is in session. so we don't know who that person was. but it was a heavily guarded situation in getting that individual out. now, canadian police also say shots have been fired at a mall near parliament. and they also have the u.s. embassy saying that due to the shooting at the parliament in ottawa, the embassy in ottawa is now on lockdown. and here in the u.s., president obama has been briefed on the ongoing situation there. but now we're being told, sir, that canadian police say that shots also fired at a mall near parliament. would you know which mall they were referring to? >> yes, well, that would be the mall just down the street. now, you have parliament hill and then you have the war memorial and then you have a gigantic mall. which is further down the street. >> that is the rito center? >> yes. >> that's what ottawa police

told ctv, three separate shots fired. the war memorial, the mall that you've explained to us and parliament hill. >> yes. and the person being taken out of the building, i would presume, because as you point out, parliament is in session. that's where the major offices are, in the same building where the assembly meets. and so i presume, it looks as if that's one of the cabinet ministers they were bringing out through the side door. >> and so right now, the building that i'm looking at, it has post office 59 is the number. does that building sound familiar to you? >> post office, no. >> 59. >> we see some other people now being escorted out. it says post office 59 at the top of the building. civilians being escorted out, maybe 20 now, and they're

rushing out. not under the same -- at least visibly -- not under the same heavy protection as the one individual who was rushed out into the armored vehicle. but now we've seen, i'm going to guess, that was about 30 people. escorted out of this building with guards in front. >> yes, that was a separate operation. the one you described earlier. all i've seen are what appears to be a cabinet minister whom i know. and somebody else and then a steady stream of people. the one you saw originally was obviously a separate operation. with the police officers around. so we won't know who that person is right now. >> senator baker, please stand by. we're going to continue our coverage of the breaking news out of ottawa, canada. my colleague andrea mitchell is standing by. are you there? >> indeed. thank you so much, tamron. thank you, everyone. this is andrea mitchell in washington. right now on "andrea mitchell reports." breaking news, canada's parliament in lockdown this morning after a soldier is shot

on the street. we continue our conversation now with senator george baker, a member of parliament who is under lockdown inside. senator, thank you so much for all of your briefings. tell us again, if you can recap. >> okay. >> what happened, what you saw and how you got the word that you were in lockdown. >> well, what happened was that off in the distance, there was -- i thought it was construction. it was obviously shots that were fired. and then, and then about 15 minutes later, when i was trying to leave for my committee meeting in the center block, all of a sudden the police converge on the hall and say, no, you've got to go back into your office, you're not allowed to look out through the window. i have been looking out through the window to assist you and your program. but the doors are locked. i'm here alone just watching the entire thing unfold in front of me. >> now, before we go on, let me make sure you're safe, back from the window. we don't want you to